So much eggcitement going on! Yes, more egg madness with this creation…the Mango Custard Pie! Growing up, egg tarts were one of my favorite dim sum/dessert/pastry items. The puffy flaky crust (or sometimes cookie crust ;)) enveloping the gelatinous egg custard in the middle. Sometimes if I had bread, I would share it with the birds (GASP! Yes, I realize you shouldn’t feed the birds but I was three, okay? Annnndd now, I duck whenever birds fly by.). But, I would never share my prized egg tart. My 蛋撻 (daan taat).

Among tropical fruits, I also had a favorite- mangoes. Fresh, ripe mangoes. When cut right by cutting out a meaty half and then slicing it horizontal and vertical, you could flip it inside out where perfect little cubes could be bitten off piece by piece. In fact, I loved mangoes so much that I cried when my family left a perfectly delicious mango in the fridge upon checking out of the hotel when I was three. #toddlerprobs

Last but not least, the pie portion. Crust has probably always been my favorite part of a pie. CARBSCARBSCARBSgalore. Instead of a traditional graham cracker crust of a cheesecake, I thought I try out a childhood favorite, McVitie’s Digestive wheat meal biscuits.

Blend everything in a blender. (Note: This will create a lot of bubbles in your mix, but it’s the easiest method. You can also substitute about 1 1/2 cups mango puree and beat the eggs separately to minimize the bubbles.)

Pour the mix into another bowl through a sieve. Remove all extra foam! You can let the mixture sit so more bubbles and foam rise to the top.

Pour mix on top of biscuit crust. Bake for 35 minutes. To check whether it is done, the custard should jiggle when shaken, similar to gelatin desserts (Jell-O), but not seem watery. Parts of the top may also have burnt bubbles but that’s fine.

I begg your pardon, but did you want the “eggs benedictted to sweets” or the “eggs, sugary side up”?…

Eggs, eggs, and more eggs! In my silliness, I accidentally bought a carton of eggs when I already had a practically full one. What do you do when you have too many eggs AND a perpetual sweet tooth AND a carton of milk that’s about to expire? Why, you make chinese egg pudding (燉蛋) of course! It’s pronounced dun daan-“dun” meaning stewed or steamed and “daan” meaning egg.

This is a simple and relatively healthy dessert popular in China. It’s similar to flan or creme brulee except it’s a lot easier and quicker to make. It has the consistency of flan but is less dense and even softer. What’s most interesting about this is the cooking method. No oven, no problem! This is cooked by steam! (I will also later upload a recipe for a steamed cake, maybe in a few weeks.)

Hi there Culinary Faries! Join me in welcoming our first guest post. Here is a delicious coffee recipe from my friend Osama Ahmed.
As a side note, he also produces music with two of my favorites being his Titanium Dance Remix and DJ OMA in the Mixx.

Coffee is an incredibly sophisticated beverage to be connoisseured, not merely a medication to wake us up in the morning. And sometimes, it can also be a classy dessert as well.

Introducing the Osamagato: the simple dorm room way to make tasty coffee-dessert beverages without having an espresso machine. Yes, real coffee snobs will laugh at me for using instant coffee, but simplicity is of the essence here.

I uncovered this recipe completely by means of trial and experimentation. Moreover, the portion sizes are incredibly variable to suit each of your own tastes.

We’ve probably all tried the standard New York cheesecake…thick, creamy, cheesy goodness atop a graham cracker crust. As a fierce competitor to that stands the Japanese cheesecake, a cotton-soft chiffon cake with the slightest hint of lemon mixed into the cream cheese clouds.

I tried out this recipe from here, but changed the cream cheese to 8 oz (whole box) and the sugar to 1/3 cup. Also changed the directions a bit, putting it inside emptied eggshells and a 13 x 9 pan. I copied the slightly altered recipe below for your convenience, but the link to the original recipe is provided in the link above.

Crack eggs at the top when separating the egg whites and eggs yolks. Save the eggshells
(I like cracking a smaller hole at the top so that you can simply pour out the egg whites in one bowl and use your fingers to block the egg yolk from slipping out, and then put the egg yolk in a separate bowl.)

Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until foamy. Then gradually add the remaining sugar and cream of tartar and beat for about 4 minutes on high until soft peaks form.
(When beating the egg white mixture to soft peaks, make sure you use clean and dry attachments. Water and other ingredients added to your mixture may make the peaks unable to form, only making a very foamy mixture. You can check if you’ve reached the “soft peaks” point by first stopping the mixer and scooping some of the mix up. The scooped up mix should stand up like the “peaks” of a mountain, except be “soft” like clouds.)

Fold egg white mixture into the cream cheese mixture.

Pour the mix into the three eggshells, a little less than 2/3 full in each, and the rest into the 13 x 9 pan.

Place the cake pan into a larger roasting pan. Make little foil stands for the eggs simply by making a ring with aluminum foil and scrunching slightly at the middle. Place into the larger roasting pan as well and the whole roastingn pan in the lower rack of the oven.

Pour enough water into the roasting pan so it is halfway up the side of the cake pan.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly.

Layer a slice of cheese on the chicken breast and a fourth of the cooked lardon on top of the cheese. Pour 1/2 tsp of wine over the lardon.

Roll up the chicken breast and secure with many toothpicks poked through it. (As you can see in the picture, I didn’t put enough toothpicks…the chicken unraveled, and the cheese and lardon were exposed!)

Preheat oven. Make cake mix as directed, except replace part of the water with 2 tbsp coffee liqueur and the rest with coffee. Also add in 1 tbsp instant coffee powder and mix. Pour half of the mix into 12 cupcake tins and half into an 8 inch pan. Bake.

Meanwhile, whisk together all the ingredients for the zabaglione. (While most recipes like to chill this in the fridge for 30 minutes before using to make it thicker and easier to spread without being runny, I just opted for quickness.)

Poke holes throughout the entire cake using a toothpick. Pour half the coffee liqueur mix over the cake and half over the cupcakes so it soaks in.

Cover large cake in zabaglione and put in the freezer. I opted to fill the cupcakes with zabaglione inside. Cut out a piece from the top of the cupcake and remove part of the cake inside (almost like taking the seeds out of a cantaloupe). Fill with inside. Put the “cover” back on top. Finally, frost the cupcake with the zabaglione and freeze.

Garnish with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings by grating a piece of chocolate against cheese grater or using a peeler or a knife.

Mix crepe mixture together. Make sure to grease the skillet for each crepe. On a preheated pan, add 2 tbsps of batter and make sure you tilt the pan in a circular motion so as to spread out the mix. Repeat for a total of 15 times.

Beat together the softened cream cheese, vanilla extract, egg, and sugar as a cheesecake filling base. Melt the peanut butter in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted and add to the cheesecake mixture.

Drizzle melted peanut butter and melted chocolate in a criss-cross pattern. Sprinkle on powdered sugar and chocolate chips on top. (Chocolate drizzle instructions: Microwave the chocolate chips and the oil in 30 second increments until melted, mixing between each time.)